Transition Contacts in Action

Transition Contacts in Action

Paavan Kotini

Raj Ganguly

Sam Leu

Mike Matthews II

Table of Contents

1) Title Page1

2) Table of Contents2

3) Abstract3

3) Project Proposal3

4) Appendix A: Gantt Chart7

5) Appendix B: Project Cost Estimate8

6) Appendix C: Preliminary Research Progress9

Abstract

There exist needs for versatile sunglasses-like contacts for many different users in diverse situations. In each of the situations it requires hands-free technology to transition from clear in low-light intensities to translucent in situations with more intense lighting. In our preliminary research there exists such form of transition change lenses, first sold by Corning Inc, however this method requires the use of potentially cumbersome hardware. Taking a look at currently market needs in the world there is definitely a market for an efficient solution to the problem of having a hands-free technology to transition from clear in low-light intensities to translucent in more intense light. Our group’s solution to such a problem is the use of transition contacts.

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Project Proposal

There exists a need for versatile sunglasses-like contacts for many different users in diverse situations, whether a member of a military task force going from outdoors to buildings or caves, an athlete playing sports and tracking a ball in the air on a sporadically cloudy day, or a motorist driving in rush-hour traffic. In each of these situations, there exists a need for hands-free technology to effectively transition from clear in low-light intensities to translucent in situations with more intense lighting. While there exists a solution in the form of transition change lenses, first sold by Corning Inc, this solution requires the use of potentially cumbersome hardware and is used only to modulate the intensity of light without enhancing contrast.

In the situations above, it is unsafe for an athlete or a soldier to use glasses; and while the technology can readily be adapted for goggles, the use of goggles often irritates and distracts as the goggles are pressed constantly against the user's face. Another problem is that in glasses form, this technology only provides coverage for a limited visual field; if the user sees something in the corner of his eye, he must turn his head and see the distraction with the glasses needing to enter the arc of the field of vision where the distraction occurred. Needless to say, this is unacceptable in any situation where the user's full attention is required to ensure his safety or that of others.

Other solutions the market currently offers include sunglasses (both prescription and non-prescription), contact lenses with UV protection, and contact lenses with light intensity reducing pigments to mimic sunglasses. Each of these products has a select application offering limited benefits to the user, but each fails to bridge the gap in technology for low and high light intensity situations.

Regardless of the existing products' failure to meet this special need, each of these solutions does compete well in the market. Table 1 shows approximately 35million people in the United States each year correct their vision with contact lenses. According to Optistock.com, in the world market there is an increasing demand for specialty contact lenses such as disposable and colored contacts; the specialty lens market accounts for one-third of the world market demand for contact lenses. The disadvantage of this technology is that it fails to aid vision when sun light is glaring in the user's eyes, making it necessary to own and use other sun light intensity reducing technologies.

Unquestionably, sunglasses sales do well since many people opt to purchase a pair of stylish sunglasses over a hat to block sunlight; Oakley Inc.'s 2004 sales exceeded $585million, showing the strength of the sunglasses market. While the styles of non-prescription sunglasses offer some designs able to cover the entire visual field, no prescription sunglasses are able to effectively cover all of the visual field; nor are prescription glasses, in general, able to provide support for the peripheral field without creating distortions during refraction at higher objective powers in the lenses. In short, the prescription-based solution is not adequate for preventing UV light entry to the eye at some angles and potentially creates unsafe conditions when the user must switch between sunglasses and regular glasses or when the user must observe movements in his peripheral field.

The last major competing products are the Nike and Bausch & Lomb Maxsight sunglasses contacts. While this bit of technology does offer the user the ability to see his entire field of view with reduced light intensity and partial UV protection, the user is at the mercy of the outdoors to provide sustained high levels of sunlight for him. If the user is wearing this product before dark, he runs into the problem that soon it will be dark, where this product will be not useful and potentially dangerous. Another downside is that the contact is uniformly an unnatural color for the iris and pupil; this, in turn, causes the user to appear as though his entire eye is red, which often may be found disconcerting by others.

Seeing that the market is growing for specialty contacts and in light of the inability of current products on the market to answer the call for a product which will create a hands-free solution for adapting the visual environment to allow appropriate intensities of light to enter the cornea under both low and high levels of light intensity. The solution to this problem is to create a contact based solution able to transition from transparent in low UV light conditions to translucent in high UV light atmospheres.

First, the appropriate technology must be in contact form because contacts are the only corrective eye accessory able to provide undistorted imaging of the entire visual field without having to turn one's head. Second, because the technology needs to be hands free to prevent dangerous situations the user may inadvertently encounter, these contacts will need to be based on the existing technology of transition change glasses. Third, because the major factor influencing the use of sunglasses is sunlight intensity, or UV light intensity, the technology developed must be reactive to UV light and not light in the normal visual spectrum.

Using these criteria, the proposed direction of this team's research is to develop a biocompatible contact lens with photochromic pigments reactive in the UV regime. To accomplish this goal the following sub goals must be realized: an appropriate pigment must be researched and tested, a copacetic contact lens material with which to combine the pigment must be investigated, a suitable method for application or incorporation of the pigment to the contact lens material must be developed, and product safety tests must be performed to demonstrate that the product is safe for commercial use.

The work of this project can further be expanded to modify the pigment such that the contact lens would increase contrast through the use of changing to a red or a green tint. Also, to be more aesthetically pleasing, this project can also investigate methods to apply the pigments only to the center of the contact with a diameter slightly larger than the expected diameter of the pupil under high UV intensities.

Because of the nature of this project and the incomplete knowledge this group has with respect to ophthalmology, Transition Contacts in Action would like to periodically consult with the Wang Vision Institute in order to refine our design process and complete this project within the time allotted.

We talked about not asking for money from them at this stage, but do we intend to propose what they might gain from this at this stage? Otherwise I'm not sure what to put.

10/29–11/2 / 11/3–11/12 / 11/13–12/10 / 1/15–2/25 / 2/26–4/29
Stage 1 / Background / X / X / X
Business Proposal / X
Pigment Research / X / X
Select/Test Pigment / X / X
Stage 2 / Refinement / X
Pigment Concentration / X
Radial Positioning / X
Pigment Size Testing / X
Stage 3 / Legal Concerns / X
FDA Testing / X
Safety Testing / X

Appendix A: Gantt Chart

Appendix B: Project Cost Estimate

The table below includes the possible locations that we would be devoting our funding. In order to finish the 1st Stage, finding a pigment, we would need funding to purchase various pigments to test and we would need more funding in case the pigments we originally tested did not fit our requirement. Silicone Gel is the material use to make the contact lens. A few equipments we would need are the molds to make the contact lens and also containers for contact lens made or basic laboratory equipment. We would also need additional resources to buy items to test out our contact lens such as a simulated model eye.

Cost Per Pigment / $200
Silicone Gel / $100
Additional Pigments / $600
Equipment / $1000
Additional Resource / $500

Appendix B: Project Cost Estimate

Our group has research on various photochromic pigments that could potentially be used for the contact lens. So far we are beginning to come up with some criteria to select the pigment to test out, we also need to find places that would supply us with the photochromic pigments. We have done research for patents on similar product. We have also done research on market needs for our product.